Egg-white replacers from naturally occurring microorganisms

The innovation of FUMI Ingredients is based on the concept of minimum processing and on the use of cell structure as source of a new range of food ingredients with broad range of applications. The structure of algae, yeast and fungi cells contains unique building blocks made of proteins, (poly)saccharides, lipids and minerals. These, similarly, contain peptides, nucleotides, sugars and other diverse group of molecules which, due to their unique structure, can display excellent functional properties in comparison to traditional ingredients derived from animal and plant materials. This also means that the potential range of applications is not limited to only one type of product and neither to only functionality but also to health and nutritional value. Moreover, minimum processing is crucial, since it guarantees low operational costs and clean labels. This in turn represents a substantially positive environmental impact.

Often companies develop processes to replicate commercial food ingredients using genetic engineering approaches (GMOs). Yet elegant, this is an expensive and time demanding approach, which in some countries is not widely accepted. FUMI’s approach is unique as it seeks to target the same functionality of current food ingredients, but derived from the cell structure of naturally occurring microorganisms via minimum processing.

The approach developed by FUMI Ingredients also means that there is no direct competition with crops, ecosystems and fresh water. Some existing solutions based on plant material are still dependent on arable land, water and on climate, fertilizers and pesticides. Such solutions still put pressure on the environment, which is unwanted if such approaches are considered for applications at industrial scale.

From the broad range of possible applications of FUMI Ingredients, proteins stand out, and in particular, functional properties such as binding, gelling, foaming and emulsification. These can find direct use in vegan meats, bakery, sauces, confectionary, soups and other products.